The Mandate: A Call and Response From Black Lives Matter Atlanta

On July 13, 2016, members of Black Lives Matter Atlanta (BLM ATL) organized civil disobedience to amplify the call for long standing local demands in light of the police killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Jerry Williams. Heavy police and state surveillance and presence attempted to halt and block the organizers. These Black leaders would not falter. The Mandate is a call and response to get in formation to bring the generational leadership we need to transform the leaders, institutions, and policies that cage, kill, and terrorize Black communities. SONG joins Black Lives Matter Atlanta in building a people’s platform with Rise Up, the Georgia Not1More Coalition, Racial Justice Action Center and Women on the Rise to call on Mayor Kasim Reed to divest from the militarization of police while demanding stronger investments in Black, Latinx, and all communities terrorized by police brutality.

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TRANSCRIPT:[sound of helicopter above with music fading in]

Mary Hooks: All across the nation from Baton Rouge to Asheville to Minnesota, Black bodies and police violence is showing that this country is crushing under the weight of white supremacy.

[Sound of helicopter fades out and music continues]

Black leadership! Black leadership! Y’all said to us, “Every generation has a demand,” and you right. We do! Here’s what it is: Divest! Divest! Divest from prisons, jails, courts. The vision of justice for us does not include cages. The vision of justice for us allows us to walk in our communities with safety and dignity for all Black people: those that are differently abled, Black women, Black children, queer bodies, trans women. All of our brilliance deserves that. That is public safety. So, whoever is defining it come talk to us, because we have a different vision. Get behind it or get beside us and the organizations, and the communities, and the people we represent.

We just gettin’ ready! We just gettin’ ready. And to all of our people who are listening, all the people of the across the country right now, all of the people in solidarity right now from Canada to South Africa, all of our people in Palestine right now: This a different moment that we are in. We have a mandate! We have a mandate! And damn it we gon’ do it.